A north-east seafarers’ charity is helping a group of “distressed” crewmen after a worker fell ill on their ship and later died in Aberdeen.
Apostleship of the Sea (AoS) last night revealed it had been supporting workers who were on board Technip’s supply vessel Skandia Achiever when trainee rigger, James Usher, became unwell last week.
The 24-year-old’s colleagues alerted the emergency services, but he later died at Aberdeen Royal Infirmary.
Mr Usher was the son of former Brookside star Paul Usher, who played Barry Grant in the Channel 4 soap for years.
Last night, the charity said the vessel’s crew members were “distraught and anxious” after learning about his death.
A spokesman for the charity said: “AoS visited the seafarers on board and provided much needed support and assistance.”
AoS’s port chaplain in Aberdeen conducted a communion service on the vessel after receiving requests from the crew.
Fifteen Filipino crewmen also attended the communion service and joined in prayers for Mr Usher and his family.
“Following the service the seafarers requested that the cabins and work areas be blessed,” he said.
“They also asked that AoS’s chaplain visit them again when they returned from their next voyage.”
The charity said it was just one of the vital acts they carry out to help seafarers in times of need.
In June, the AoS visited a Filipino sailor in hospital who had taken ill while working on a supply ship at Peterhead.
They were able to provide him with phone cards, money, Wi-Fi, food, and arranged for his washing to be done.
Earlier this year, the AoS also provided practical and pastoral support to an injured fisherman from Senegal who had to be airlifted to hospital after he was injured on his ship in the North Sea.